Burger King Tests Fan Loyalty by Giving Away Big Macs

The Catch: You Can't Join BK's New Facebook Page

Handing out your mortal rival's product for free may sound like marketing suicide -- but Burger King Norway is trying exactly that in order to further social engagement with fans.

The Norwegian arm of BK attempted to find out who its "true" fans were on Facebook by offering them all a Big Mac from rival McDonald's -- to go away. The brand had recognized that some of its 38,000 Facebook fans weren't real fans at all, but were there to write disparaging comments. So, in an interactive stunt by agency DIST Creative, it created a new Facebook page just for those fans who were truly loyal, and and the same time offered all its fans a free Big Mac. Those who wanted the giveaway had to agree not to join the new Facebook page, receiving their voucher for a Big Mac plus a signed goodbye letter from Burger King in exchange.

Burger King lost 30,000 followers as a result, but says its new fan base of 8,000 are more engaged and interact with the brand in a more positive way.